Hetzner MCP

Model Context Protocol server for full Hetzner Cloud + Storage API automation

Expose all official Hetzner operations as MCP tools so AI agents can manage servers, networking, load balancers, firewalls, volumes, DNS zones, and storage boxes from one server.

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Install

pipx install hetzner-mcp
hetzner-mcp install

Then set your token and restart your MCP client:

export HETZNER_TOKEN="your_token_here"

Or configure it once via CLI (persisted local config):

hetzner-mcp auth set --token "your_token_here"

What It Does

hetzner-mcp loads official OpenAPI specs from Hetzner and exposes operations as MCP tools.

• Full Cloud API coverage: https://api.hetzner.cloud/v1
• Full Storage API coverage: https://api.hetzner.com/v1
• Dynamic tool generation from operation IDs
• Helper tools for discovery, search, and operation schema inspection
• Action polling helper for async action workflows

Core helper tools

Tool	What it does
list_api_operations	List all operations with filters (domain/tag/method/query)
search_api_operations	Search operations by keyword
get_api_operation_details	Inspect full operation details and input schema
list_api_categories	List all API categories/tags with docs descriptions
get_api_category_details	Explain one category in depth with all endpoints inside
list_api_projects	Show configured project profiles and active credential context
set_active_api_project	Switch active project profile for agent execution context
wait_for_action	Poll cloud/storage actions until completion

All API operations are also exposed directly as tools using the official operation ID names (for example create_server, get_action, create_storage_box).

For agent-friendly documentation, every endpoint and category also has dedicated guide tools:

• Endpoint guide tool pattern: guide_<operation_id>
  • Example: guide_create_server
• Category guide tool pattern: category_guide_<api_domain>_<category_slug>
  • Example: category_guide_cloud_servers

These guide tools include docs text from the OpenAPI documentation, explicit purpose, parameter explanations, and example tool arguments.

Docs-first execution lock (required)

This server enforces a docs-first workflow for endpoint execution:

1. Call guide_<operation_id> first for the endpoint you want to execute.
2. Then call the endpoint tool itself (for example create_server).

If you skip step 1, execution is rejected with a docs_required error.

Unlocking is based on context freshness (interaction distance in the current session), not wall-clock time:

• Docs must be read before execution.
• Recently executed endpoints remain trusted while context is still fresh.
• After enough unrelated tool interactions (context drift), docs must be read again.

Full Coverage

Current generated operation coverage:

• Total operations: 221
• Cloud operations: 189
• Storage operations: 32

You can verify this locally:

python scripts/verify_operation_coverage.py

Example Prompts

"List all Hetzner operations related to firewalls"
"Create a CX22 server in fsn1-dc14 with my SSH key"
"Attach volume 12345 to server 67890"
"Create a load balancer and add target server 1001"
"Enable rescue mode on server 123 and wait for action completion"
"Create a storage box and reset its password"
"Show operation details for update_storage_box_access_settings"

Authentication

You can configure auth in two ways:

1. Environment variables (recommended for CI/ephemeral environments)
2. Local CLI config file (recommended for local workstation use)

Environment variables (highest precedence):

• HETZNER_TOKEN for both Cloud and Storage APIs
• HETZNER_CLOUD_TOKEN to override cloud auth token
• HETZNER_STORAGE_TOKEN to override storage auth token
• HETZNER_PROJECT to choose one configured local project profile for this session

Base URL safety:

• Default API targets are locked to the official Hetzner HTTPS endpoints.
• HETZNER_CLOUD_BASE_URL and HETZNER_STORAGE_BASE_URL are validated before any token is attached.
• Custom base URLs are blocked by default to prevent credential exfiltration to non-Hetzner hosts.
• For controlled test environments only, opt in explicitly with HETZNER_ALLOW_CUSTOM_BASE_URLS=true.

Local CLI config examples:

# set default token
hetzner-mcp auth set --token "your_token_here"

# auth set auto-probes what the provided key can do
# (cloud/storage + read/write capability hints)

# set per-domain overrides
hetzner-mcp auth set --cloud-token "cloud_token" --storage-token "storage_token"

# inspect effective token sources (env/file/unset)
hetzner-mcp auth show

# open full local config in your editor
hetzner-mcp config edit

Multi-project profile examples:

# create per-environment profiles
hetzner-mcp project add prod --description "Production Hetzner" --token "prod_token" --activate
hetzner-mcp project add staging --description "Staging Hetzner" --token "staging_token"

# project add also auto-detects capability hints for entered keys

# see which profile is active and what each one is for
hetzner-mcp project list

# switch active profile
hetzner-mcp project use staging

Capability probing notes:

• auth set and project add automatically probe entered keys and print capability hints.
• Report format includes per-domain read/write level plus probe status codes (for example cloud:read+write, storage:no-access).
• Detection uses safe representative GET/POST checks and is best-effort guidance, not a formal permission matrix.

Config file location:

• ~/.config/hetzner-mcp/config.json (macOS/Linux)
• %APPDATA%\\hetzner-mcp\\config.json (Windows)
• Override path with HETZNER_MCP_CONFIG_PATH

Optional runtime controls:

• HETZNER_CLOUD_BASE_URL
• HETZNER_STORAGE_BASE_URL
• HETZNER_TIMEOUT_SECONDS
• HETZNER_MAX_RETRIES
• HETZNER_BACKOFF_BASE_SECONDS

Supported MCP Clients

Auto-configuration is included for:

Client	Auto-config
Claude Desktop	Yes
Claude Code	Yes
Cursor	Yes
Cline	Yes
Windsurf	Yes
OpenCode	Yes

Run:

hetzner-mcp install

OpenCode integration note:

• This installer writes OpenCode MCP config to the global OpenCode config file (opencode.jsonc) under the mcp key.
• Legacy ~/.opencode/mcp.json is not used.

Manual Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hetzner-mcp": {
      "command": "hetzner-mcp-server",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

CLI Commands

Command	Description
hetzner-mcp status	Show effective runtime config + registry + client status
hetzner-mcp doctor [--json]	Print detailed diagnostics
hetzner-mcp server run [--refresh-specs]	Run stdio MCP server
hetzner-mcp update	Refresh specs and re-apply client integration
hetzner-mcp client install	Configure supported MCP clients
hetzner-mcp client status	Show client config installation state
hetzner-mcp client repair	Re-apply configuration entries
hetzner-mcp client uninstall	Remove MCP config entries
hetzner-mcp auth set ...	Configure API keys directly from CLI and auto-detect key capabilities
hetzner-mcp auth show	Show token status and source
hetzner-mcp auth clear [--all]	Clear stored token entries
hetzner-mcp project add/list/show/use/remove	Manage multiple project credential profiles (with capability probing on add)
hetzner-mcp config show	Show stored + effective config
hetzner-mcp config get/set/unset <key>	Read/write persisted config keys
hetzner-mcp config edit	Edit persisted config file in $EDITOR

Legacy aliases still work: install, repair, uninstall, diagnose.

Development

git clone https://github.com/devinoldenburg/hetzner-mcp.git
cd hetzner-mcp
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Validate quality
ruff check .
mypy src
pytest

# Refresh specs and inspect counts
python scripts/sync_specs.py
python scripts/verify_operation_coverage.py

Security Notes

• Never commit API tokens.
• Tokens can be read from environment variables or persisted local config, but outbound API targets are validated before Authorization headers are sent.
• Official Hetzner HTTPS base URLs are enforced by default; custom base URLs require explicit opt-in with HETZNER_ALLOW_CUSTOM_BASE_URLS=true.
• Dynamic endpoint calls now validate path, query, and JSON body inputs against the loaded OpenAPI schema before making HTTP requests.
• MCP tool responses redact common secret fields such as token, password, secret, and authorization to avoid leaking credentials into transcripts.
• set_active_api_project now switches the active project for the current MCP session by default; use persist=true only when you intentionally want to update local config.
• Server logs are routed to stderr to keep stdio JSON-RPC clean.
• Network retries are limited and capped.

Troubleshooting

ModuleNotFoundError: hetzner_mcp in local scripts

• Install editable package: pip install -e .

No operations listed in MCP client

• Run hetzner-mcp status
• Verify config file includes hetzner-mcp
• Restart the client process after installation

Auth failures (401 unauthorized)

• Ensure HETZNER_TOKEN or domain-specific token is exported in the client runtime environment

Rate limiting (429)

• The client retries transient failures automatically; reduce request burst and retry later

License

MIT